Chapter 9



The loft was quiet when Brian returned a couple hours later. That wasn't unusual. When Justin painted, he usually put on music, but if the music ran out before he finished, he rarely broke away from what he was working on to put more on. So Brian wasn't surprised to find Justin standing in front of his easel at the back of the loft. He wasn't surprised that his young lover was so lost in his work that he hadn't heard the loft door open and close. He was surprised, however, to find that Emmett was posing for Justin. Completely nude.

"Christ, Justin!" Brian shouted with a grimace. "Could you warn a man? What a sight to come home to."

"Sorry!" Justin chirped happily, his eyes never leaving his work. "Emmett just dropped in and I got inspired."

"I'm not sure how that can be inspiring when you get to see me naked on a daily basis," Brian whispered into Justin's ear as he wrapped his arms around his young sub. Then he got a good look at Emmett's package. "For fuck's sake!"

Emmett blushed, "I'm a grower, not a shower."

Brian narrowed his eyes at the tall queenly omega. "And just why were you growing around my Justin?"

"Not for that!" Emmett protested. "I always get hard when I'm naked in front of people." He started to get up and put on his clothes, but Justin shouted at him to stay still. Looking confused, Emmett turned to Brian, who shrugged and walked away.

"Fine! Do what you're going to do," Brian said melodramatically. "It's only my home and my sub!"

"Brian!" Justin whined. "I need another good portrait for my portfolio! We talked about that!"

"I said it was fine, didn't I?" Brian said, but his tone was sulky. He grabbed the bottle of Jim Beam from the counter and poured himself a double before heading into the sitting area. "Just make sure to spray down that chair when he's gone!"

Justin rolled his eyes and went back to work. Emmett huffed, but settled back into his pose. All was silent and still for about twenty minutes until Brian came back over to watch Justin paint. He watched the large strokes of paint that should have just been globs of color, but somehow took shape into light and shadow. There were no defined lines, but Brian could still see the shape and contours of Emmett's body in the paint. It was pretty incredible to watch.

"What's that?" Brian asked, pointing to a blob of blue in one corner. There was no corresponding blob on the wall behind Emmett.

"That's going to be Emmett again," Justin said. "And I'll have another on this side." Justin pointed to the red blob on the other side of the painting.

"Like an angel and devil on his shoulder?" Brian asked.

"More like an alpha and a sub," Justin shrugged. "Shows his dual nature as an omega."

"How long will this take?" Brian asked.

Justin looked at his painting and then at Emmett. "At least two more sittings. Why?"

"Just curious," Brian said. "I've never actually seen you paint before. I mean from start to finish. I've seen the results, but not the process."

Justin continued to work for a while, and Brian stood back and let him. A little later, Justin had Emmett stand up and strike an alpha pose to the left behind the chair. Brian watched as Justin repeated his earlier process of filling in large splotches of color until shapes and shadows began to form the image of Emmett. An hour later, he moved Emmett to the other side of the chair, standing with his head down and arms behind his back in a classic submissive pose and repeated the process one last time. When Justin was finished for the night, there were three very distinctive figures in recognizable poses. The details weren't there yet, but Brian could see where Justin was taking the scene already.

"Thanks Emmett," Justin said as he began to clean up his brushes and Emmett got dressed. "You can come again on Thursday, right?"

"Yeah," Emmett said and gave Brian a calculating gaze. "As long as it's okay with your alpha."

Brian growled. That's two people now questioning his relationship with Justin. Well, he might have told Debbie, but he wasn't going to tell Emmett. "It's fine. He needs the work to get into PIFA."

"Honey, I've seen your portfolio," Emmett said to Justin as he put an arm around the younger man's shoulders. "Believe me when I say it is fantastic. You have more than enough great work to get into that school. But I'm happy to pose for you anyway. Someday, my picture will be worth millions."

Brian frowned. He hadn't seen Justin portfolio, but Emmett had? "Hey! Keep your fucking hands off and go home."

"Night!" Emmett sang as he swished his way out the door.

Once the door was closed, Justin turned to Brian. "Why were you so mean to him? He was doing me a favor."

"I'm always mean to him," Brian said negligently. "He wouldn't know how to react if I was nice. Now, get your bubble but over here so I can take advantage of you."

Justin grinned. "What's the hurry? We have all weekend."

"Not all weekend," Brian murmured into Justin's neck after pulling the younger man into his lap. "We have to be somewhere in the morning."

"We do?" Justin asked breathlessly. Brian's tongue and teeth were doing wicked things to melt his brain into a puddle of mush.

"We do," Brian confirmed as he pushed a protesting blond off of his lap. "But I'm not telling. It's a surprise. Now go get naked, put on your blindfold and ball-gag and lay face down on the bed. I want to play tonight."

BJBJBJBJBJ

Brian and Justin got up early the next morning, or at least it seemed early to them after spending most of the night exploring Justin's sexual boundaries. Brian had learned early on that Justin was not a morning person. He was like trying to wake a grizzly bear in Deccember. But once he had some food and caffeine in his system, he was even more perky than usual. With that end in mind, Brian dragged the half asleep teen to the Diner and filled him up with eggs, pancakes and coffee.

"So where are we going?" Justin asked after the carbs and caffeine hit his system.

Brian smirked and shook his head. His sub was so predictable. "I told you last night that it's a surprise. You'll see when we get there."

Justin seemed to bounce in his seat. "I hate waiting."

"Let's go," Brian said as he pushed away the remainder of his egg-white omelet. Justin jumped out of the booth and practically danced out the diner while Brian paid for their meal. Brian shook his head again and thought that he was glad he hadn't told Justin where they were going or he would have been ten times worse.

They drove through Pittsburgh and took the highway through the Liberty tunnel towards the airport. Justin watched their route, trying to figure out just where they were going. There was a mall out here, but Justin didn't think that Brian would bring him to a mall. Besides, what sort of store at a mall made appointments. He wasn't completely surprised when they missed the exit that would have taken to the mall. In fact, they continued on towards the airport.

"Can you at least tell me what state we're going to?" Justin asked after Brian had parked the car in the short term parking lot.

"New York," Brian said with a smirk. "In fact, that would be the city as well."

"And this appointment we have is in New York?" Justin asked with a smile.

"It is," Brian confirmed. "Now hurry up. We don't want to miss our flight."

BJBJBJBJBJ

They arrived in New York and took a taxi to the Four Seasons Hotel, where Brian checked them in. They only stayed long enough for Justin to admire the posh room and Brian to stow the overnight case he had packed for the two of them before heading back out onto the streets of Manhattan. Rather than catching another cab, they walked to the shopping district on Fifth Avenue. Justin was amazed by the many shops and designer stores that lined the avenue, but Brian didn't give him time to window shop. They had an appointment to keep.

"We can spend some time shopping tomorrow," Brian finally told Justin as he dragged the younger man away from one more store window. And if you're good, I'll even agree to go to one or two museums on Monday."

Justin paused on the street, making several tourists swerve to avoid running into him. "How long are we staying?"

"Our flight back is on Tuesday morning," Brian said. "I spoke with your tutors and arranged to have them come later in the week. Now come on. We're going to be late."

They arrived at the doors to Tiffany's and Brian ushered a confused Justin inside. Brian seemed to know exactly where he was going, so Justin followed him to the elevators at the back of the store. Brian gave the attendant the floor number and the doors soon closed on the bustling first floor show room. When they opened again, it was much quieter. Brian led Justin to a small showroom where a salesperson was waiting for them.

"Mr. Kinney? Welcome to Tiffany's," the man said with a smile. "I have arranged a selection based upon your requirements for you and your sub to look over. If you'll just follow me."

The man led them through another doorway and they were in a private viewing room with what appeared to be sparkling collars lined on black velvet on the only table in the room. Brian took a seat at the table and Justin knelt on the pillow provided at his feet.

"A collar?" Justin whispered with something akin to awe.

Brian shrugged. "Thought we should make it official. Let people know you're taken."

Justin's smile was worth all the trouble and expense Brian had gone to in order to make the weekend happen on such short notice. The salesman sat on the other side of the table and began showing them the selection of collars he had gathered. Brian looked each one over and rejected each one in turn.

"None of these is right," Brian complained. "They are either too effeminate or too plain."

"I kind of like the one with diamonds and rubies," Justin said meekly. Brian just glared at him.

The salesman looked crestfallen for a moment, but then his face lit up. "I believe I may have something that might be of more interest to you. Just give me a moment."

The salesman disappeared for several moments and Justin relaxed against Brian's leg while the older man carded his fingers through Justin's hair. When the salesman returned, he was carrying another black velvet cloth which he spread out on the table top. This time, there were four collars revealed. The first on was a simple platinum herringbone chain with a single sapphire dangling from charm at the front where Brian's name could be engraved. The second was black titanium and made up of a series of curved bars, each encrusted with a small diamond, again with a charm for Brian's name. The third one was similar to the second, but the titanium was silver in color and each bar had a sapphire surrounded by two smaller diamonds.

"They all have the standard break link," the salesman said as he watched Brian finger each of the three collars. "For the safety of your sub. If that link is ever broken, you can return here or take the collar to any reputable jeweler and have it replaced quite easily."

"We'll take both of the titanium collars," Brian finally said. He looked at Justin. "The black will be for everyday use."

"Would you like us to engrave the charms while we do the adjustments?" the salesman asked after they had measured the collars to fit Justin. He was rather pleased by the commission he would receive from this sale. "I can show you our selection of leashes while you wait."

Brian nodded and ignored the man while he gathered the rejected collars and took their selection away to be fitted and engraved. "Happy Princess?"

"Very," Justin smiled up at his alpha. "I would have been just as happy with a simple leather collar, though."

Brian snorted. "Sure you would. I know your tastes better than you think. Besides, you are a reflection on me and I won't have my sub going around in a tacky leather collar like a dog."

Justin laughed but didn't have time to respond before the salesman returned with the leashes. Again, there was a wide variety to choose from. In the end, Brian chose two. One was a simple chain of black titanium to go with the black titanium collar. The second was more ornamental, silver titanium with sapphires both at the clasp that would attach to Justin's collar and at the other end, where Brian would control the leash.

They were left alone again, and Brian pulled Justin up into his lap. For the next fifteen minutes, he teased and tormented his sub with kisses, never allowing the heat between them to catch flame as it could so easily do. When the salesman returned for the final time with the silver collar and chain in one of Tiffany's distinctive blue boxes, and the everyday collar set out on the black velvet once more, Justin was flushed and pliant. He knelt once more while Brian fastened the collar around his neck and secured the lock. The salesman placed that key on a simple titanium chain which Brian put around his own neck to wear.

Brian leaned down and kissed Justin one last time. "You're mine now. Completely and utterly mine."

Justin nodded with a languid smile on his face.